Cutting The Ties That Held Us So
by GoldenDragonClouds
Summary: No one knows where Tenten lives, no one knows her parents, surname, or where she's from. No one suspected, she's not even from their world. She's tired of living a double life, so she makes a choice, leaving Konoha for Tokyo. She is Echizen Tenko. Hiatus.
1. Chapter 1: Fed Up

**Chapter 1: Fed Up**

* * *

"speaking"

'thinking'

Summary: No one knows where Tenten lives, no one knows her parents, her surname, not even where she's actually from. No one suspected, she's not even from their world. She is Echizen Tenko, a senior at Seishun High Schol, known in their world as "The Kunoichi". She is the Samurai Nanjiro's niece and the Prince's cousin. Since she was seven she was a messenger between the two worlds, providing communication between the Hogake and a secret correspondent. She's fed up, though, with going back and forth, always lying. So she makes a choice. Konoha or Tokyo? She chooses Tokyo. She goes on one of her "every other week solo missions" and does not return for a month and a half. Tsunade, worried that she may need to find another loyal correspondent, sends a search and rescue team to get her back. Tenten's secrets are about to be revealed... And not just one.  
Takes place after the Sanbi arc.

Disclaimer: GDC does not own either of Naruto or The Prince of Tennis series.

* * *

"Tsunade-sama, then I'll be going tonight?"

"Yes, and I expect your report as usual."

"Of course, Tsunade-sama."

"Be safe as always, Tenten."

"Arigato." There was something final to the tone.

Tenten strode out of the room, nodding to Shizune. She'd leave after her team's monthly dinner tonight. She smiled wistfully, glancing at every rock, tree, signpost...

"Tenten-san!"

"Our beautiful Konoha flower!"

Tenten couldn't help it- she laughed while running towards the men clad in spandex.

"Lee! Gai-sensei!" What better than to spend one's last day with one's favorite people?

"Hey Neji!"

And there he was, the man that she had fallen for, the one that despite her emotions remained indifferent, only acknowledging her as an exceptional training partner. But now even her position as that was threatened, as he gained more and more access to training with the Hyuuga Main House, leaving her with Lee and Gai every once in a while. It was people like him that she was willing to leave behind... the rebellious teenager she was at the moment. But not just because of him...

There was something sinister in Konoha, behind the Hokage, behind every good being. She wanted the safety of the world she was born in, the place she belonged to. Away from all this evil, the wolves in sheep's skin.

"Tenten." Tenten looked up from her thoughts to flash a 'good girl' smile at her sensei, who had pulled out a chair for her.

"Arigato!" She ordered her usual, wanting to enjoy her last meal.

At the table, Lee was excitedly talking of his mission in two days to escort a child to the capital city, where the daimyo lived. Gai would go with him, but Neji declined, saying: "I have a solo mission lasting about two weeks." Lee turned to her.

"Tenten-san! Would _you_ come with us?"

Tenten laughed, not for mirth but because of his child-like joy. The innocence that not many people she knew possessed. "Gomen, Lee, but I also have a solo mission tomorrow. I can't go with you this time."

Lee looked as if about to pout, and Gai just said, "Then we shall find someone else to accompany us!"

At this Tenten stifled a giggle and smiled. Neji coughed, and she knew he had the same thoughts. No one sane, really, would accompany both Lee _and_ Gai... except those that felt sorry for the escorted. Oh, unless it was Naruto, of course, because he had been taken in by that green spandex suit.

But enough about that... Naruto's name only brought in more reasons to leave forever.

All these years, and ever since learning that Naruto was a "host" from the Sandaime, Tenten never really forgave the village. Her uncle had the same idea when she told him, and so had the previous correspondent when she confronted him about the idea.

Using people in that way and then never fixing their thoughts... despicable.

* * *

Gai paid for their food, and the four walked, or in Lee's case ran, out of the restaurant.

"Well then Goodbye!" Gai yelled at them, and took off full speed, no doubt to run a hundred or so laps around the village... again. Lee took off after him, leaving Tenten and Neji in the dust. "SAYONARA!!!" Tenten shouted after them, to which the two waved back at her, mouthing sayings that she couldn't hear already.

"So," Tenten turned to look at the once too-stoic teenager. "Going home?"

"Yes."

The two walked towards the edge of town, where Neji currently stayed in the Hyuuga Main Branch Estate and Tenten rented a small flat.

'At these times it's nice, I guess, and _he_ can be nice as well.' Tenten leaned back while walking, looking more at the stars than the road. 'Even the stars are different here' she thought, thinking of her planned escape. 'I'd miss this place, really. So should I really go?' A sudden feeling of doubt rose in her. This was not expected.

"Tenten."

"Huh?" She broke away from her thoughts. Neji stood in front of her, and they were at the gate of the estate. "Oh, yeah. Bye then, Neji."

"I'll expect you at training ground 17 when I get back."

"Of course Neji. Sayonara." And she turned to walk away towards her flat.

Neji cocked his head. Tenten usually just ran home after she said one goodbye, waving. Today she had been unusually quiet, even at the dinner table where she usually had arguments with their sensei.

Neji turned to the gate, shaking his head. Even he could be thinking too much at times. There could be nothing wrong. Even with that slight sense of finality...

* * *

Tenten locked the door, scanning her living space. One room, a small kitchen, a tiny bathroom. She rolled her eyes. There would be better accommodations waiting for her when she joined her family.

She took out her largest scroll, the one that was made so that even a house could be sealed inside. With a kunai she pricked her thumb, grazing a drop of blood over every item she needed to seal inside. Numerous small scrolls, extra weapons, countless kunais, and her most prized katana.

Her personal treasures went into a different storage. An ivory hair comb that Gai had given her, a green spandex suit she never wore, a chunin vest that she had grown tired of, their first genin team picture, their celebration of becoming chunin together... the first kunai she managed to penetrate Neji's kaiten with... a pair of white ribbons for her birthday... a teddy bear with lavender, pupil-less eyes....

Tenten shook her head; shaking out her doubts. All these went into a duffel bag, to be carried by hand. There were two things left that she had not packed.

One of them she picked up now.

A simple necklace, ornamented with a single pearl... a hollow pearl. Inside was a miniature picture of Team Gai, herself with three people she loved. She put it on.

The next was an object not from this world. No one would have recognized it; if one did there would be a problem. One from the Country of Lightning would think it was a snowshoe. It was a long object, a grip with an oval shape frame attached. That frame had inside numerous hard strings, crosshatching like something woven.

Tenten smiled at her very own tennis racquet. It was soon stored inside a large bag, which inside held three more of the same object.

Scroll strapped on in her normal fashion, duffel bag placed on her left, tennis bag on her right. She took up a brush and ink, swiftly drawing characters in kanji around herself and her objects, a perfect circle formed. The same circle with the same designs lay under a fine layer of dust in her very own room at home.

She sat down, meditative position. Rolling up her sleeves, she located a pair of tattoos, seals concealed by intricate designs. Butterflies. Fitting, for a person that flitted from one place to the next, never truly settling down.

Tsunade never suspected Tenten would have gone to a seal-master to inscribe one on her skin, but she was also a fool if she expected her correspondent to use the master seal each travel back and forth. That one could leave her anywhere in the whole of Kanto Region, Tenten had discovered after the first several jumps.

She now pricked her thumb once more, leaving a trail of blood from the butterfly on her right shoulder to the one on her left, then from each one to her temples. She closed her eyes and started to form hand seals.

Dog. Monkey. Rooster. Ram. Dragon. Horse. Snake. Rat. She lost track of the ones that came next; so used to forming the seals her hands had memorized the sequence instead of her brain computing it.

Then came the feeling of floating in space, and then the tremendous drop that got her heart at her throat every time. She never got afraid of heights after this...

* * *

She opened her eyes.

A four-poster bed instead of a futon, a desk piled with books not about weapons but instead studies for school, a closet filled with everyday casual clothes instead of battered battle or training clothing. And a person with brown hair leaning back on her swivel-chair.

Before she could open her mouth the person spoke, not opening his eyes. "Yo, Tenten."

"Uncle."

"Your shadow clone is waiting downstairs, but I think you should have a change of clothes before you come down yourself."

"Arigato."

"Tenten?" He was by the door.

"Hm?" She turned from dropping her three bags by on the bed.

"Are you sure about your cutting ties?"

"I'm sure, Uncle, just like you were."

'Dammit.' Her voice came out shaky. Her uncle didn't buy it.

"Of course... I'll be downstairs."

"Yeah."

Tenten made sure the curtains were closed, then shed her worn-out training clothes. Luckily she had taken a shower before meeting with Tsunade. She opened her rather large closet and smiled. Whoever the friends were that her shadow clone had made, were ones that really knew their fashion! Tenten chose a green tank-top and blue skinny jeans, adding a belt and pulling on some socks. She put studs in her ears as she opened her room door.

The familiar sight made her smile.

This was the house she longed for, the house she belonged to. The house of her guardian, her uncle. Tenten ran down the stairs.

"Ten!" There were six people around the dining table and she backtracked slightly to take in who. Her uncle, one. Her aunt, two. Her aunt's niece, three. Her cousin, four, and her adopted cousin, five. The sixth was none other than her own shadow clone.

"Yo!"

Her shadow clone got up, walked towards her. Both girls with twin buns raised their hands to form them into a cross-shape... "Dispel." They stated together, and one of them instantly disappeared, leaving a pile of clothing behind.

A flood of memories came into her head, and Tenten staggered. Her cousin grabbed her and forced her into her seat. "Thanks. Hey, you're not short anymore!"

"Yeah..." A teen with emerald-black hair grumbled at her mention of 'short'.

"So..." Her aunt started to say, "got all the information in yet?"

Tenten groaned. "It's six months' information... I'll probably have a migraine for a couple hours before I process them completely."

"Ha," One next to her laughed, "Serves you right for not listening to my idea of dispelling little at a time every time you visited."

"Urusai, Ryo..." Tenten groaned once more.

"Is there anything I can do?" She looked up into the worried eyes of Nanako, a woman her clone had come to be close friends with. They weren't blood related, but Nanako treated her like family. Although, the poor girl was still quite confused about how her aunt's family had a bizarre range of correspondents.

"Nah, I'll get over this."

"Nanako, why don't you go find a tylenol?" Her aunt, Rinko. The mother figure in her life... as her own mother had died in childbirth and her father... when he had visited Konoha and somehow gotten caught up in the Uchiha Clan Massacre.

"Ne, okaa-san, I'll call her friends to say she can't go to the movies tonight?"

"You go do that, Ryoma." Rinko's eyes turned sharply to the elder. "Ryoga, don't you do anything strange."

"Hai, hai, kaa-san!" Ryoga looked as if he wasn't listening at all until Rinko hit his arm.

Tenten laughed with her uncle, Nanjiro.

"Ready to maintain your position in the tennis world, Ten?"

Tenten looked her uncle straight in the eyes. "Ready."

Nanako came back with tylenol and a glass of water at this point, and Tenten took them. She had just swallowed when Ryoma came back the room, phone in hand.

"Ami wants to talk to you."

"Ami? Oh wait, oh!" Tenten laughed and held her arm out for the phone.

"Ten?" A suddenly familiar voice spoke to her. "Why can't you come?"

"Dunno why but I have a migraine..." Tenten gave a white lie, adding in a groan just for the sake of it.

"Well hope you get better, cuz we have to talk about this year's team tomorrow."

"Yeah, I know, Ami. Yukiko and Mei are with you?"

"Uh huh, should I tell them the same thing?"

"Yeah, tell them sorry. I'm definitely going tomorrow though."

"Of course, Ten, I've never met anyone as enthusiastic about Tennis than you!"

Tenten had to smile at that. "Call me the freak!"

Ami laughed. "You better get better by tomorrow night, Echizen Tenko, or Yukiko, Mei, and I'll go over and drag you to where we are!"

Tenten paused for a second. "Yeah! Have a good time!"

"Kay, bye!"

She hung up, happy yet a little disturbed. She turned to the waiting Nanjiro and Ryoma. Nanako, Rinko, and Ryoga had already gone up to their rooms to rest.

"Tenten. I'm asking you this seriously. Are you really ready to throw away all contact with your friends and acquaintances from the ninja world you have gotten used to?"

"I told you uncle, I am."

"Ten, I'm one that cut ties with another world, and there will be no more correspondents going to that world because I decided not to tell anyone. I left no trace of this world back there, but instead took training from that world to help myself and Ryoma here. I know there is at least a bit of doubt that you hold."

Tenten looked at Nanjiro. "Uncle, I'm about to do the same thing you did ten years ago. Don't give me ideas that can get me backtracking. I want to end this double life."

Nanjiro sighed, getting up from the table. "Alright, but don't blame me later if you suddenly want to go back. Remember, you have a month. You could change your mind during that time, although you think you won't."

"I assure you uncle, I wont. Now go get some rest. I want to talk to Ryoma."

Nanjiro trudged off to his room, saying, "Good night, Tenko."

"Tenko."

"Ryoma."

Ryoma grinned. "So, what do you say? Tomorrow morning at six, before breakfast?"

"Yeah, and ooh, my clone's done well."

"What, in grades or tennis?"

"My grades are fine. It's tennis that I'm talking about; get this, I'm captain!"

"You can probably work with Tezuka-buchou to upgrade the teams then."

"Tezuka... the guy who was in my maths class last year! Stoic, quiet... sounds a lot like Neji in a way."

"Neji?"

"Someone. So early tomorrow, huh?"

"Yeah! I get to play with you finally!"

"Wasn't my clone good enough?"

"I wanted to face off with the real you."

"Alright then! Let's see your skills."

Tenten smiled as she and her cousin climbed up the stairs, throwing comments at each other, joking as well. Now that she could fit into her space here, nothing could go wrong. Konoha would forget her. Just like what happened to her uncle Nanjiro ten years ago.

Oh only if she knew.

* * *

Gomen, gomen, for not updating my other only-one-chapter-so-far stories!!! But then I'm kinda at a writer's block if you noticed from the ones I _have_ updated. Eh heh.....

But still.

Please review to tell me what you think!

This idea came up inside my head one time when I noticed that Tenten says "mada mada!" all the time while the Echizen family says all sorts of "mada mada dane." XD so then her it goes, my first crossover story!!!

My friends are gonna kill me now....

They want the others to be updated X3.

So I'll update a.s.a.p.!

Ja Ne!

GDC


	2. Chapter 2: Calm Before the Storm

**Chapter 2: Calm Before the Storm**

* * *

"speaking"

'thinking'

Summary: No one knows where Tenten lives, no one knows her parents, her surname, not even where she's actually from. No one suspected, she's not even from their world. She is Echizen Tenko, a senior at Seishun High Schol, known in their world as "The Kunoichi". She is the Samurai Nanjiro's niece and the Prince's cousin. Since she was seven she was a messenger between the two worlds, providing communication between the Hogake and a secret correspondent. She's fed up, though, with going back and forth, always lying. So she makes a choice. Konoha or Tokyo? She chooses Tokyo. She goes on one of her "every other week solo missions" and does not return for a month and a half. Tsunade, worried that she may need to find another loyal correspondent, sends a search and rescue team to get her back. Tenten's secrets are about to be revealed... And not just one.  
Takes place after the Sanbi arc.

Disclaimer: GDC does not own either of Naruto or The Prince of Tennis series.

* * *

"That's the third cup that cracked while I read Tenten's file." Tsunade muttered, wiping off tea from her desk with a tissue. "And that girl hasn't returned in three weeks! She's not one to come late... something's happened to our only correspondence to that world."

Tsunade stood up and started pacing behind her desk.

The hem of her jacket caught the edge of a pile of paper, and the floor was soon a sea of forms. Tsunade clicked her tongue and started clearing up the mess.

Just then there was a knock on the door.

"What!?" Tsunade snapped. This was not a good day for her.

"Tsunade-sama? There's someone here to see you..."

"Oh great... send them in." The pile of papers were disorganized now, but that didn't matter, she needed to listen to yet another complaint from a citizen. Oh how interesting!

There was slight chuckling in the room.

"I never knew you felt that way, Tsunade-sama."

Tsunade looked up to find Neji smirking at her. Oh that insolent boy... "Oh, did I speak aloud? Yes, this is why people don't want to become Hokage! But back to matters. Why did you come here? Again!"

"Tsunade-sama, I just came here to make sure- Tenten still has not arrived in Konoha?"

"No Neji, she still hasn't come back. Will you stop coming to my office every day?"

Neji stiffened. "Alright then Tsunade-sama. But I expect that Lee will be in here soon enough after I leave."

He left in a swirl of leaves.

"Alright. If she doesn't arrive in another three weeks I'm sending a search team out for her." Tsunade muttered, just as the two advisors and Danzo came into the office. She looked up and scowled at them. "What do you want?"

Danzo opened his mouth. "Tsunade, there has been a report from Jiraiya that the Akatsuki has successfully captured the Sanbi."

Tsunade rubbed her temples. "So the only demons they are missing are the Ochibi and the Kyuubi."

"Exactly."

"There has to be something done about the Kyuubi child so Akatsuki does not attack Konoha, when the time comes at all."

"No! Naruto stays here." Tsunade pounded her desk, startling the others.

"Tsunade-sama!" Shizune's voice carried from outside the door. "Sakura's here to see you about something!"

"This will continue next time, Tsunade-hime." Homura said.

"Just get out of my office." Tsunade leaned her head against her right hand.

The three walked out without another word and Sakura entered, looking confused.

"Tsunade-sama? What was that about?"

"Nothing... nothing... At least not yet anything."

* * *

Tenten stood, panting, at the baseline of the dirt tennis court outside of her uncle's house. There was a grin on her face, however, as she was very much enjoying herself indeed.

"Ryoma! Ready to give up just yet?" She shouted over to the other side of the court, to her cousin two years younger than her.

"Mada mada dane!" And the ball was served, a bright streak of yellow.

"You're the one lacking here!" Her counterpunch was just as fast, and landed at the corner just inside of the singles court, exactly where she wanted it.

Ryoma, using his split-step, was behind the ball, just getting into position. There was an equally large grin on his face, and his golden eyes flashed in the sun. He shot the ball right down the middle, and Tenten ran to get it.

Tenten changed the course of the ball so that it landed just as her previous shot did, at the corner of the same side of the court. Ryoma had expected it on the other side; he now scrambled to just reach the ball.

It landed on the front half of the court, and Tenten glared at her cousin for a split second before running to get it. Her ball arched up- a perfect lob.

"Drive B!"

Tenten's eyes widened, but it was too late- Ryoma was on the floor, creating a small dust cloud as he jumped up to reach the arching ball... She shook herself out of her staring and rushed to the base line, just in time to hit back with a straight shot.

Ryoma's shot was hurried and landed, again, in the front half.

Tenten sighed internally. Her cousin had to be doing this on purpose, aiming at her weakness. Outwards, she sprinted forwards, changing her stance at the last moment and slicing the ball.

Ryoma did not expect this. He dived forwards but too late; the ball had already bounced twice on his side of the court.

"Drop shot!" Tenten sing-songed, smirking at him.

"Che, when did _you _get so good at changing your stance at the last moment?"

"Just get the ball, junior, and serve so we can go on another round!"

Rinko came into the court just then. "Ryoma, Tenko, why don't you stop playing and grab lunch? You've been going on for two hours!"

Tenten and Ryoma looked at each other, then back at Rinko. "Mada mada!" They exclaimed as one, then started laughing.

Rinko sighed. "I'm going to get Nanjiro."

"Go get him." Ryoma said nonchalantly, and Tenten mimicked him.

"He'll probably just watch us anyway."

"And give us corrections and commentary."

"And then berate you for just losing your service game." Tenten teased.

"So, you did as well just before!" Ryoma shot back.

"Yeah, and the score's 6-6."

There was a comfortable silence, broken by Ryoma's stomach growling. The two of them laughed, then shouldered their racquets. Perhaps it _was _time to get something to eat.

* * *

"So... Did ya beat her yet?" Nanjiro clasped a hand on Ryoma's shoulder just as he was raising his spoon to his mouth, and the younger Echizen scowled.

"No, even if it was only a clone here she's improved a lot by being on the girls' team. And I still can't beat her."

"Of course, Ryoma. I'm two years older than you!" Tenten spoke as if to a little kid.

"Ryoga's older five years older and I still beat him..."

"That was three years ago, chibisuke. You still haven't played me once since then." Ryoga entered the dining room with Nanako and Rinko, all three holding some sort of dish.

"Che, I'll play you today then!"

"Eh? After I beat you first!" Tenten grinned at him.

"No, I'll get you this time!" Ryoma glared at her.

Tenten set down her spoon. "I'm done eating! Thanks for the meal!" And she ran out to the dirt court, again. Ryoma soon took off after her, setting down his chopsticks with a clang.

Rinko sighed once more. "How did I ever get caught up in a family so obsessed with this sport called tennis?"

"Because you said yes to me when I asked you to marry me." Nanjiro hugged Rinko from behind, taking her by surprise.

"Yes, I suppose I did." Rinko turned her head back to kiss her husband square on the lips.

Ryoga scowled and shouted at them, "Get a room!" Nanako only laughed at her adopted cousin's antics.

"Why don't you just go outside and watch the match between Ryoma and Tenko?"

"Yeah, I think I'll do that." Ryoga muttered and grabbed his own racquet before sauntering off outside, onto the dirt courts where Tenten and Ryoma were already caught up in a high-speed rally.

"Yo! Wanna add another ball to that?" Ryoga shouted, and before Ryoma or Tenten could protest lobbed a ball over to Ryoma. Ryoma scowled but hit the new ball to Tenten, and soon the three were passing back and forth two balls in a triangle.

The match between Ryoma and Tenten was forgotten, and the score was left 7-6, 7-6, and 6-6.

* * *

"Tenten." Nanjiro sat down on the couch next to where Tenten had been listening to her iPod, drawing a time-table for the upcoming tennis team she would have to lead.

"Hm?" Tenten pulled her left earphone out, so that she could hear what her uncle had to say to her. "What?"

"It's been a month, Tenten, since you took up the name Tenko. Are you still sure about leaving everything there behind to stay in this world?"

Tenten sighed in frustration. "Uncle. I already told you repeatedly, I want to stay here. When I'm in Konoha, I feel so deprived. There I'm a nobody. Oh, the only weapons mistress Konoha's seen in a long time, but not much more than that. I had a limited amount of friends, and wouldn't have been happy there without my favorite hobbies... and sport."

"You were a proficient kunoichi, I know that. Don't tell me that it was only to increase your skills as a tennis player."

"I was never as interested in being a kunoichi as being a tennis player! Besides, since my chakra levels were pretty low while my stamina and physical skills were pretty high, I was always cut out to be a better sports person than a ninja."

"That's what they call it there, right? Chakra."

"Yep, the energy that comes around you when you unlock the three doors of Myuuga no Kyochi." Tenten stated, bored, and went back to marking the sheet that she was working on before.

"Your levels were high enough to achieve all three of Myuuga no Kyochi, Tenko."

"So?"

"And the control had to be good to unlock all three."

"Your point is?"

"You could get back there and work on your skills in other than Taijutsu, Fujinjutsu, and Kenjutsu! You could become powerful, if you just wanted!"

"Precisely! I don't want to be another ninja in that corrupted world! You shared your opinions with me when I told you about the turmoil there! I had to disentangle myself with the world I didn't even belong to before I couldn't come back here!"

"Alright... I'll leave you alone then. You can't go back as soon as a month passes. And I know I still sometimes miss the Samurai world." Nanjiro heaved himself up from the couch and wandered off, probably to get his hands on those magazines of his.

"I do not miss Konoha." Tenten whispered, hands clenched. "I do not miss it, I don't want to go back, I want to cut ties forever."

A tear started to form at the corner of her left eye but she shook it away, dismissing it.

"I am happy in this world." Tenten kept telling herself, until Ryoma came in looking for her, her friends wanted to go see another movie. Until she believed it, the words etched into her mind.

* * *

"Ten-chan!" A girl with brown, wavy hair called out to Tenten, waving her arms. She had a subtle tint of make-up on; a hint of mascara, foundation and blush just brushed on. Rose-colored lip-gloss completed the look.

"Ami!" Tenten waved back, "Yukiko! Mei!"

"About time, Tenko." Yukiko was a slight girl with straight black hair that fell to her shoulders. She had glasses, and was the bookworm of the school. However, her friends knew her for being quite extroverted. "We were waiting long."

Mei, a girl with bluish hair, punched Yukiko slightly on the arm. "Yeah right, Kiko-chan, we were only waiting ten minutes!"

"Ten minutes is long; that's the time it could take us to walk over to the movie place from here and buy tickets." Yukiko retorted, and Tenten laughed.

"Gomen, gomen. Let's go now, anyway."

"Yeah!" Ami started dragging Mei and Tenten away, Yukiko following just behind.

After a long time of bickering, they decided not to watch a movie at all, annoying the person behind the ticket sales. Ami instead decided they should all go for kareoke, so that they could discuss not just songs and movies but also about the training schedules.

"So," Tenten said as they all went into a room, "I have a roughly drawn schedule here of what we should be training the team for throughout the tennis season."

"Ten-chan? Are you mad?" Ami looked up from the piece of paper with a look of pure confusion on her face. "I mean, it's good that you're aiming for the nationals, but making us go through _that_?"

"What's _that_?" Mei piped up from behind the catalogue of songs, which she and Tenten had been scanning and entering different numbers to the machine from. She scooted towards Yukiko to peer at the chart.

"Tenko's not mad, it's actually a smart idea to do such a thing." Yukiko was saying, over the noise of the music that came on. "Oh, that's my song!"

For a minute Tenten, Mei and Ami stared at Yukiko, who was currently singing Simple Plan's "I'm Just a Kid" in a perfectly American-English accent. They shook their heads and moved back onto the schedule.

"So why are we going to be practicing with the boys' team again?"

"Because their captain agreed with me, that we should be getting used to playing with not just against each other but with people we've never played against before."

"Ten-chan? You talk to Tezuka?"

The room was for a moment silent, other than the music that played at the end of a song, announcing the singing score.

"Yes! I got a ninety-seven!" Yukiko turned around to face the other three, who were staring at each other. "Guys?"

"Yeah, I talk to Tezuka." Tenten finally responded. "Uh, why would I not?"

"Because _he_, is the most stoic person _we've_, ever known." Ami was frowning.

"Eh, so?"

"So how did you even get him to talk to you!" Ami was wide eyed, staring straight at Tenten while shaking her by the shoulders.

"Well, you know... My cousin's on the boys' team, so I asked him to connect me to his captain and coach so that we could plan cooperative practices. I even asked Sato-sensei if we could and she said yes. So I talked to him."

"Maybe you don't know because you've only been here for a year, but Tezuka? Does not talk to anyone. Other than teachers and the tennis team." Ami looked briefly at the incredulous look on Tenten's face and continued. "No really. He's really that aloof."

'Well, sounds definitely like someone I know... knew....' Tenten was brought out of her musings by Mei pushing the mike into her face.

"Your turn, Tenten!"

"Huh? Oh."

Tenten stood up and opened her mouth to sing a recently popular song, and soon her three friends were joining her in the chorus, howling with laughter as they were all trying to sing in the lower tones of a male voice. They were given a seventy-five.

An hour later they stumbled out of the kareoke place in search of a decent restaurant to eat in. As they did not have that much cash on them, they ended up eating, yet again as with their habit, at a Burger King joint. Tenten went to bed that night satisfied, and feeling ready for the first day of school that would be in two days. She had forgotten all about "not missing being in Konoha."

* * *

Meanwhile, in said Konoha, an extremely annoyed Hokage got up from her desk to stare outside of the window, her gaze focusing on the building Tenten had lived in before.

"Two more weeks." Tsunade reminded herself. "I'll wait two more weeks before giving into Lee's pleas to send a search party for Tenten." She smiled wryly. "And then that'll stop Neji from coming into my office so many times."

* * *

Well, thank you blueyblonde, Azalie-Kauriu, Yorukifon, and Qissa for reviewing! Hope you liked this chapter as well!

Towards my other readers... uh...  
I seem to be caught up in a MAJOR writers' block right now... after the cliffhangers I placed at the end of my last chapters.  
It would be extremely gratifying if you could maybe send me ideas? Just maybe?  
XD Well... I'm still writing... and I'm getting down a lot of ideas although I'm not getting anywhere with them... sad -_-;;

The funny thing this weekend- my cousins came over from canada to visit, and the one that's one year younger than me turns out to be a naruto fan~~~ X3! So he and I and my sis get talking... and got scolded by our moms when we used the computer to read.... At least I hadn't gone on fanfiction or she would have KILLED me... and so it turns out, I'm not the only naruto fanatic in the family!!!  
Right... that was really random. XD

Ja Ne!

GDC

P.S.: I can't believe Danzo has the sharingan!!!!


	3. Chapter 3: A Start

**Chapter 3: A Start**

* * *

"speaking"

'thinking'

Summary: No one knows where Tenten lives, no one knows her parents, her surname, not even where she's actually from. No one suspected, she's not even from their world. She is Echizen Tenko, a senior at Seishun High Schol, known in their world as "The Kunoichi". She is the Samurai Nanjiro's niece and the Prince's cousin. Since she was seven she was a messenger between the two worlds, providing communication between the Hogake and a secret correspondent. She's fed up, though, with going back and forth, always lying. So she makes a choice. Konoha or Tokyo? She chooses Tokyo. She goes on one of her "every other week solo missions" and does not return for a month and a half. Tsunade, worried that she may need to find another loyal correspondent, sends a search and rescue team to get her back. Tenten's secrets are about to be revealed... And not just one.  
Takes place after the Sanbi arc.

Disclaimer: GDC does not own either of Naruto or The Prince of Tennis series.

* * *

"Tenten!"

Tenten turned around in a split second, for a moment anticipating her pink-haired friend and nearly setting her face for a pleasant, though fake, smile for the Hokage's apprentice. But no, it was only Mei, although the bluish-haired girl looked strangely a lot like Sakura.

"Mei! You scared me!"

"Oh, I doubt that. You always somehow sense anyone when we try to scare you. So anyway, ready for our first practice with the Boys' team?"

Tenten smiled at her. "Of course! I'm going to pound my cousin!" An evil little grin came on her face and Mei laughed.

"You're forever saying that, Tenten."

"Because it's true! He hasn't had a chance to beat me just yet." Tenten retorted, a smug smile tugging at her mouth.

"That's because you always go all out on him!" Mei cried.

"Duh, because he goes all out on me, too." Tenten stated matter-of-factly.

"You don't let him win even one point from you, do you? Like you do to the underclassmen that challenge you?" Mei huffed, crossing her arms.

"Actually, he's come very close to beating me quite a few times."

Mei blinked. "What?"

Tenten suddenly stepped to the side, slightly startling Mei. The movement created a gap between the two girls, a gap which Ami stumbled through.

"No fair!" She shouted, "You avoid me every time!"

"Perhaps you should stop trying to jump on Tenko, Ami." Yukiko strolled past, having changed into her regulars uniform just now, with her hair pulled back into a ponytail and her racquet tucked under her right arm. She didn't even look up from her book as she moved to avoid bumping into Tenten and continued on her way towards the tennis courts where the rest of the girls' team was assembling.

Ami, Mei, and Tenten took one look at each other and ran to catch up to Yukiko.

* * *

By the time the four of them reached the Court 1, the full boys' team had already arrived, and the rest of the girls' team were in their lines. Coaches Yamanaka and Sato of the boys' and girls' team respectively were having a whispered discussion nearby.

Tenten grinned at Ryoma, who was standing proudly at the front of the boys' team, wearing the regulars uniform. He smirked back, causing a few of the other boys' regulars to frown. She could clearly see that one question etched on their faces; how did Ryoma know the _girls'_ team captain? She took one look at her own regulars, and, satisfied that they were all decent and that Ami, Mei, and Yukiko had taken their positions, walked over to Tezuka, who was waiting for her.

"Hey, Tezuka, you ready?" This was said with barely more than a whisper.

"Echizen-san. This will be a very good experience for all of us."

"Oh, I hope so." Tenten turned away from him and motioned to the two coaches. "We're ready!" She called out.

Yamanaka-sensei walked forward first to address the teams.

"I am Yamanaka-sensei, the coach for the boys' team. As most of you here already know, our captains have decided to have co-practices starting from this year. This means that we still have our separate girls' and boys' teams, but we will have practices split into similarly-ranking players from each team playing against each other. This is for the club members. The regulars will have an entirely different training program altogether. Sato-sensei?" The smiling girls' coach took over.

"Konichiwa, I'm Sato-sensei, the coach for the girs' team. Yamanaka-sensei pretty much covered everything, so I'll just tell you one more thing. Boys, don't complain about training with us girls. While the boys' team has not won a championship in two years we've been winning for five consecutive years. Girls, don't be too confident. It _is _true that boys are naturally physically stronger than girls, after all. That's all! I'll be handing you over to your captains now."

The boys stared as Sato-sensei walked back to Yamanaka-sensei's side. The girls only rolled their eyes, having become used to this sort of talking after facing it every day.

"Okay! So!" Eyes swiveled back to the captains as Tenten called out awkwardly. "I'm Echizen Tenko, captain of the girls' team, and this is Tezuka Kunimitsu, captain of the boys' team for those of you that don't already know us. Uh, our coaches have really said everything you need to know. Club members, you're all going to stay here with our coaches, and regulars, you're coming with Captain Tezuka and me for "special" practice. Thanks go to Inui-san!"

Tenten failed to notice the glares sent towards said Inui.

"Let's go!" She smiled her largest smile and waltzed out of Court 1, tugging Tezuka outside with her. Ryoma shook his head and soon followed, turning his head and glancing at the other regulars as if to say "You coming?" The other male regulars jumped up and ran out, belatedly realizing that Tezuka would probably assign laps to the late ones. The female regulars, on the other hand, walked out, single file, silently, knowing Sato-sensei would say something elsewise.

* * *

"Neji nii-san."

Neji whirled around, coming face to face with his cousin, Hinata.

"Yes, Hinata-sama?"

"Are you going to training ground 17 again?"

There was a slight pause. "Yes."

"It's too soon for you to start training again... That was an A rank mission and you only had your wounds fully treated last night by Tsunade-sama herself! You were that injured!"

"I'll be fine."

"Nii-san... she hasn't come back yet."

Neji stiffened for a moment before answering her. "Then I will be practicing against some of the other branch members, Hinata-sama." He turned and walked out the door.

"He's still being stubborn?" Hanabi emerged from another door and Hinata sighed.

"Yes, he won't admit that he's being too reckless with his training."

Hanabi scowled at her older sister. "No, not about that! Ugh, how's our clan going to survive with someone as dull as you being the Head?" She teased, smirking. But her words soon went back to Neji. "He's an idiot that won't admit who he likes, or the fact that he even likes that person. Everyone knows it's true!"

"It seems to be the same case with so many of us Hyuugas..." Hinata sighed, eyeing her sister as well.

"What?" Hanabi snapped, a red color rising on her cheeks.

Hinata just smiled at the younger Hyuuga. Everyone, even her father, knew about Hanabi's attraction to the Sandaime's grandson. She just wouldn't admit it, not to mention that Konohamaru was as dense as... Naruto.

"Hinata-sama! Hanabi-sama!" A branch member ran up to them and bowed. "Hiashi-sama wants to see you both."

Hanabi nodded, dismissing the branch member, and Hinata stifled a sigh. At least she admitted who it was she liked. She could only hope for the best... for all of them.

* * *

A strong hand knocked twice on an apartment door instead of using the doorbell.

"Open up. It's me, Nanjiro."

"Nanjiro-kun? Come in, come in. The key's where it always used to be." A female voice shouted at him from the inside.

The door opened, then closed. Nanjiro found himself in a very normal looking home, albeit a decorated one.

"Nanjiro-kun! The door to your right!" Nanjiro rolled his eyes and went left. The door to his right, if he remembered correctly, was a storage room filled with artifacts.

"What's with you? Trying to trick me again!"

"But it wouldn't be fun if I just gave you straight directions!" A woman with straight black hair and a plain face came into his field of vision. "But anyway, long time no see! The last time I saw you was... about..."

"It was ten years ago, Sensei."

"Yes..." The woman's playful smile dissolved, replaced by a serious look. "When you decided to abandon the Samurai world."

"You were so disappointed."

"Of course I was. Your father before you, your grandfather before that, and well, your entire line! They were all travelers, even your brother who died doing his job! You, instead, chose to quit both jobs so your son wouldn't be pulled into joining the samurai."

"Sensei, you know fully well that I just did not want him to be a complete copy of myself!"

"Even the samurai have different styles of fighting! But no more about that... Ryoma's fifteen, and far too old to even consider training as a samurai at all. A traveller maybe, but he'd never become a good one. What are you here to tell me? Oh, and please, sit."

"Sensei, I..."

"No, I know you have something to tell me. Ten years of no contact whatsoever except for those occasional letters you sent me through your niece..." She paused. "Ah. This is about Tenko, is it not?"

"Yes. Sensei. She..."

"She wants to quit and that's why she hasn't been here in two months."

"She's here. Attending Ryoma's school."

"The school of all the travelers, eh?" She didn't wait for an answer as she continued on. "And here I thought she would have stayed in Konoha. Wasn't she happy there?"

"She thinks she's happier here, with her family."

"She's a fool, like you were. Did you tell her about your experiences?"

"Tenko... she refuses to listen."

"Tell her I need to see her. I don't care when she comes, but I need to talk to her soon. I can't afford to lose another correspondent." Here she glared at Nanjiro. "Don't you miss the samurai, Nanjiro-kun?"

The former tennis star did not answer her, choosing to stare at table in front of him.

"Good. Now run along. I have an appointment soon. Unless you want to meet a warlock, of course."

"Er... no thank you."

"Run along now, and remember to tell Tenko my message. Although it's been two months since her last visit to me, there's still a chance if she changes her mind before a year is up."

"Alright then, Sensei. I'll go now."

"Nanjiro-kun, I'm not your sensei anymore, and I have not been for more than ten years now. Call me by my name."

"Then. Sayonara, Chiyoko-sama."

"Ja ne, Nanjiro-kun. It was nice to see you again."

* * *

Ryoma fell to the floor as he dived for the ball. He winced, but stood back up right away. The ball had dropped to the other side, and he just knew that Tenko would have gotten it. He was right. He nearly tripped on his way to the back of the court, but he made it just in time to lob the ball over.

Tenten ran again to the front side of her court, jumping to smash the ball back to Ryoma's side. Again, Ryoma just reached it, managing to hit the ball to the net. It wobbled on the line, but fell back to his court.

"Seven-five, Win to Echizen Tenko." Tezuka's voice rang out in the silence. The only sounds came from the neighboring courts where the rest of the teams practiced.

"Damn!" That was one of the boys.

"Momoshiro Takeshi sempai." Ryoma muttered to Tenten, both of them having gotten up to shake hands at the net.

"That's our captain!" A voice that Tenten recognized as Yuuka's rang out.

"Nakamura Yuuka." She muttered back to him, making a note to herself as well. She then smiled at him to say loudly, "Well, you've come close again, but as usual, I win. Mada mada, Ryoma."

Ryoma smirked back. "I will get you eventually, Tenko."

"Not likely, but just keep trying! Now get back there with the others, brat."

Tenten brushed her bangs to their respective sides and turned to face the rest of the regulars, girls and boys. "Okay, so you guys saw that. But seeing as it was between me, the captain, and the youngest member of your team, results may differ with any other match. Inui-san, Tezuka-buchou and I have mapped out all your strengths and weaknesses to pair you up with someone you can improve by training with. Inui-san?"

At hearing his name, Inui walked up with a clipboard and his notebook. "Captains Tezuka and Echizen will be discussing tactics today instead of practicing. Here's the list of everyone else. Fuji Shusuke will be paired with Watanabe Ami, Oishi Shuichiro and Kikumaru Eiji will be paired with Fuji Hotaru and Nakamura Yuuka as doubles, Kamimura Mei will be paired with myself, Kaido Kaoru and Momoshiro Takeshi will be paired with Suzuki Yukiko and Ryuuzaki Sakuno as doubles, and Echizen Ryoma will be paired with Yamada Haruko. I will take any questions now." He said as his glasses glinted dangerously. All regulars shook their heads, indicating an all clear.

"If there are no questions, all regulars should move to their respective courts as directed by Inui." Tezuka said.

Tenten raised her voice as well. "And remember the District Preliminary Tournament is next week for the boys and the week after that for the girls! Our training menus remain the same, if we do not find any flaws in our playing during these few combined practices. Keep it up girls! We want to win the nationals again!" There was a cough. "Boys too!" She shouted, slightly embarrassed.

* * *

Tsunade sat at her desk, face grim. In front of her stood eight people, all looking mildly to very confused at this situation. They all shifted uneasily in the silence until Naruto broke it.

"Tsunade baa-san, why were we all called here so unexpectedly?"

"A mission, and a dangerous one. It'll have to be an S-rank."

"Are we finally going after Orochimaru?" Naruto's face shone of excitement.

"No, Naruto. You'll be going on a retrieval mission, but not for Sasuke."

"Then WHO?"

"Tenten."

There was a moment of silence.

"What?" Lee's eyes had become a lot rounder than usual.

"Shizune, secure the doors." Without waiting for Shizune to comply, Tsunade continued on. "Tenten... she's Konoha's only weapons mistress, and quite a formidable one too. But it's not her skills but the secrets of our village she carries that are dangerous."

"She didn't... she didn't defect, did she? Tenten wouldn't have defected from our village!" Sakura's voice was frantic, her mind on Sasuke.

"I'm not too sure. But it's quite possible, as Tenten is not a citizen of Konohagakure."

Another moment of silence.

"But how could this be? Tenten has lived here her whole life. She is a Kyuubi orphan and..." Neji was cut off by Tsunade.

"No. Tenten's father was killed in the Uchiha massacre, despite that neither she nor her father are Uchihas. In fact, neither of them, nor her mother, were from our world."

"Please, explain." Kakashi said, closing his book and storing it in his pouch.

"Tenten... How do I explain this... Tenten is from a world parallel to ours. You eight are going to a world that you have never known before and will never see after this mission. Theirs is a world that ninjas have died out, and technology is much advanced." Tsunade sighed, then continued. "You will need to hide your chakra as much as possible. No shinobi clothes will be allowed, no formal robes either. Pack civilian clothes only. All ninja items should be sealed in a scroll to avoid attention. All other information is inside the mission scrolls I have given you. You will leave tomorrow afternoon by meeting in my office first, and no Naruto I cannot give you any more information at the moment. I have a meeting in a minute. Dismissed."

They all filed out, contemplative frowns on their faces. A parallel world? Had Tsunade gone drunk again? But the fact that Tenten was not a Konoha-nin... confused and angered them in different degrees.

Hinata sighed. Her father was not going to be happy when Neji beat up another branch member.

* * *

A/N: Ew. Okay, that didn't turn out as well as I wanted it to. I'm writing this with the spare time I have: study hall, and like five minutes each. One chapter at a time, and I've taken this long to complete this chapter.  
Yamanaka-sensei and Sato-sensei are based off of people around me. Coincidentally (or not) both their names are taken off of people near me as well. I assure you Yamanaka-sensei is a pretty laid-back person while Sato-sensei can be very scary when she wants to. Just to make things clearer; Yamanaka-sensei is a man and Sato-sensei is a woman. They are friends, both teachers at Seishun High.

For readers of my other stories... I regret to inform you of the fact that I am still very much at a writer's block, especially for my story Return: the Princess. Yes, still.

ANYway, thanks to xxxninja-akatsukixxx1231vw, Mel's Merleawe, Chirisaa Tomoko and Qissa for reviewing chapter 2! I hope you like this one as well my friends!

Ja Ne!

GoldenDragonClouds


	4. Chapter 4: Tenko

**Chapter 4: Tenko**

* * *

"speaking"

'thinking'

Summary: No one knows where Tenten lives, no one knows her parents, her surname, not even where she's actually from. No one suspected, she's not even from their world. She is Echizen Tenko, a senior at Seishun High Schol, known in their world as "The Kunoichi". She is the Samurai Nanjiro's niece and the Prince's cousin. Since she was seven she was a messenger between the two worlds, providing communication between the Hogake and a secret correspondent. She's fed up, though, with going back and forth, always lying. So she makes a choice. Konoha or Tokyo? She chooses Tokyo. She goes on one of her "every other week solo missions" and does not return for a month and a half. Tsunade, worried that she may need to find another loyal correspondent, sends a search and rescue team to get her back. Tenten's secrets are about to be revealed... And not just one.  
Takes place after the Sanbi arc.

Disclaimer: GDC does not own either of Naruto or The Prince of Tennis series.

* * *

Tenten groaned, closing her eyes and lifting her head upwards.

"Who the hell invented Biology? Scratch that... who the hell invented Science?"

Ami laughed. "Science was not invented, Ten-chan, it was..."

"Discovered. I know." Tenten rolled her eyes comically, making Mei laugh.

"No, Ten-chan, developed. It was always there, humans just kept adding more to it." Ami said, checking her nail polish.

"Isn't that the same?"

Ami huffed. "No, it's not. And besides, how can you say you hate science when you're so good at physics? And how the hell do you know all the pressure points of the body without being good at Biology?"

Tenten smirked at her friend. "Simple. When I first learned tennis, I discovered that all the different shots had different directions and speeds, and I chose to research in on that."

"And the pressure points?"

"It came up somewhere in a book... I researched on that too."

"You research in on everything."

"Everything I enjoy, you mean."

Yukiko bopped Tenten on the head with the book she was holding. "Now, now, let's end this. We have to get to math class." Tenten groaned even louder, startling a few passers-by.

Mei laughed again. "Tenten, you should be a professional tennis player if you hate studying that much!"

"You forget, Mei. Ten-chan'll study, when she wants to."

"Will you just shut up guys?" Yukiko and Mei smiled at her and shook their heads.

They turned a corner, and Tenten and Ami broke away from the group. "Bye guys!"

"Well, Ten-chan, ready for some calculus?"

"No, I never will be." She said, opening the door. Ami sighed.

"I'll just lend you my notes later on."

Tenten grinned at her. "Thanks."

"I don't understand though. You were so good at trigonometry last year."

"You still haven't realized, have you?"

"Right... I still can't believe you don't want to be a professional though."

They split then, as Tenten had a seat closer to the windows while Ami's was near the door.

The class started, and the teacher started a lecture on derivatives. Tenten opened her notebook and started writing... she stretched her neck to look around the classroom. Half the students were not paying attention, Ami being part of the group that was diligently taking notes. Tenten frowned. Calculus was not a fun class, and although she normally paid attention she was too edgy today for some reason.

Tenten turned to her right, smiling at the person next to her. "Hey, Tezuka!" she whispered.

"Hello, Echizen." he said back, taking his eyes off of the chalkboard for a second to look at her.

She wrinkled her nose. "I told you not to call me that! It makes me sound too much like my cousin!"

"Sumimasen." he turned back to his notes and Tenten fell silent for a moment.

"So, did you do your bit?" she finally asked.

"Of course." Tezuka was still writing, eyes never leaving the chalkboard. He finished the sentence, reached inside his desk and handed her a manila folder. Tenten grinned at him.

"How long did it take? I know some schools take forever to simply take a piece of paper from the box." she said, about to store the folder into her own desk.

"Tezuka, Echizen, do you have something to share with the class?"

"No, sensei." Tenten said rather quickly, shoving the folder under her desk. Tezuka shook his head at her antics.

The teacher, however, had been standing behind Tenten. He snatched up the folder, took out a paper, and started reading out loud.

"District Preliminary Tournament for High School Boys' Tennis Order..." The teacher looked down sternly at Tenten, who nervously grinned back at him. The whole class started laughing, and on the other side of the classroom Ami started to shake her head slowly.

"I trust you will not share more conversations about the tennis team during my classes, Echizen, Tezuka. Although you are the captains of your respective teams this is a math lesson and you will respect that." Tenten blushed.

"Hai, sensei..."

* * *

"So where exactly are we going to? I mean, this parallel world and everything..." Naruto asked, leaning back on his arms.

"You haven't read the mission scroll, have you, Naruto." Sakura shook her head as Naruto just scratched the back of his.

Tsunade paid no heed to Sakura as she just rolled her eyes and opened her mouth to speak. "It's in a place called Japan. That's the country's name, as our country is the Land of Fire. The seal system that we have with our seal masters can't be so precise to lead you directly to her, and you'll be arriving somewhere in the Kanto region. Tenten thinks I don't know, but she had seals tattooed on herself so she would be able to land exactly in her dwelling."

"So that was what the butterflies were for..." Sakura muttered, more to herself. Neji and Lee both glanced at her sharply. Tenten had gotten those tattoos one day without even telling Gai about her decision. She had laughed it off, saying it was an impulse thing, just because the design looked pretty. They had never suspected...

"Anyhow, once in the Kanto region you'll have to get to Tokyo, the city she is from. In Tokyo you will need to find this address." Tsunade paused to hand Kakashi a slip of paper. "That'll lead you to someone named 'Chiyo'." Naruto, Sakura, Neji, Lee, and Kakashi stiffened. "Tenten refers to her as Chi-sama, and she's the... superior of Tenten. We need to make sure if this cut off was because Chiyo wished it or not. If it was her, then you have to return here without Tenten."

"WHAT?" Lee and Naruto burst out as one. Naruto continued. "Another one of the Rookie 12 gone? Our reputation will be ruined!" Tsunade pointedly ignored him.

"Mind you, 'Tenten' might not even be her given name. It's probably a code name, like we give to our shinobi who go on undercover missions. Her father was listed in the shinobi rankings as 'Tenchi', who unexpectedly brought his 6 year old daughter to Konoha one day, 11 years ago now. No one ever found out who the mother was. He was a closed off person, but he was a friend of mine before I left Konoha- which was before he brought in Tenten of course. I was surprised at discovering two years ago that his name was Ryuunosuke. Tenchi had only been his code name."

Silence fell up upon the room as they all took the information in. Tsunade got up, motioning them to follow her outside. "We'll continue this as we walk over to the teleportation site."

Hinata dared to glance over at her cousin. After discovering the three beat up members of the branch house last night her father had agreed to send her to watch over Neji on this mission. Her cousin was currently doing a much better job at suppressing his anger... It had been dangerous for Hanabi last night when she teased him about Tenten having run away.

She then looked over at Lee, who was looking determined, but worried. She knew Lee was a loyal teammate from watching him interact with Neji and Tenten... She had no doubt that this was making him extremely nervous.

Naruto had on a look of stubborn determination. There was no way that this mission would fail, not with him around... Hinata sighed, releasing some of the tenseness in her shoulders. Akamaru nudged her worriedly and she stopped to ruffle his fur. Satisfied, he ran back to Kiba, who had also been looking at her. She smiled at him and ran to catch up.

* * *

It was lunch time, and regulars of the boys' and girls' tennis team had decided to have short matches so they weren't too stiff.

"It's only the day after the start of of co-ed practices and we're already practicing at _lunch_?" Yuuka had exclaimed. "I need time to _read_!"

Nonetheless the others had dragged her to the courts. Well, she had come running when Hotaru challenged her to a match.

Tenten had opted to sit out, having played doubles matches with her elder cousin Ryoga, pitted against Ryoma and her uncle. Ryoma had seemed bitter for "Having given an advantage" but played ruthlessly anyway. And so had her uncle. She and Ryoga had lost last night, but they vowed to win next time.

Which also explained why she was so tired... just why did they need to have so much homework? And in the first few months of school?

Ryoma came up to her, question in his eyes, and Tenten grinned.

"Of course I'll referee the match between you and Tezuka." She patted him on the back. "Just don't pull out all stops, alright?"

He merely smirked at her, for a moment reminding her of her teammate.

No. Once-teammate.

She shook her head. Two months had already passed and there was no chance of seeing him again. Speaking of which she had to go see Chi-sama sometime... Tenten climbed up to the referee seat.

"Alright guys! Since it's an informal match I'll just call it out. Love-all, 1 point match!"

* * *

The master seal was... ancient. It had obviously been repaired several times and currently was covered in a layer of thick dust that made them all cough.

"All right then," Tsunade turned to them. "There are bathrooms at the end of the hallway outside, so go change into your civilian clothing. You definitely have to change _before _traveling... I believe Tenten has made that mistake before."

Each of them changed, most of them having already owned t-shirts and slacks for everyday life outside of missions. Tsunade clicked her tongue at Neji.

"I said, nothing formal looking. Even Hinata's wearing t-shirts and a skirt." She stared him down despite his being taller than her.

"This is the most casual clothing I own." Neji stood his ground, glaring back at her.

"Shikamaru, lend him something. Seems like you'll have to go shopping sometime as well." Sakura perked up at the word and Shikamaru groaned.

"Troublesome..."

* * *

Tenten instantly knew that if Neji had played tennis, he would have played it like Tezuka.

Every single shot was evaded, every single counterattack Ryoma tried, was instantly out-of-bounds.

Either that or it landed right where Tezuka wanted it, as if pulled to him by a chakra string. All the male captain had to do was swivel on one foot... much like Ne... Nanjiro, her uncle, had to.

"Oi! Tenko! Score!" Ryoma's shout pulled her out of her musings.

"Forty-fifteen!" She called out. Ryoma pulled out another ball from his pocket and bounced it a few times. He had switched his racquet to his left hand.

"I'll score against you again, buchou."

"Unlikely, unless with a service ace, Echizen."

Ryoma threw the ball upwards, leant back, and jumped. A perfect twist serve.

Tezuka jumped back to sweep his arm in a wide arc so his racquet wouldn't need to strain against the spin of the ball. He hit it back to Ryoma, who took it as a volley.

"So he can't use the Zero Shiki Drop Shot..." Tenten said aloud what her cousin was thinking.

The ball had gone straight to where Tezuka had wanted it, again. He hit it back with a high lob, forcing Ryoma to run back in order to hit a smash. The smash landed mid-court, and Tezuka hit the ball to the left corner of Ryoma's side of the court.

Ryoma managed to barely get to the ball and hit it hard, yet it was in Tezuka's reach again.

This time the captain used his speciality. Unluckily for him, Oishi had seen that. Before Tenten could call out who won Oishi was running onto the court to chastise his friend.

"You have to be more restrained with that shot!" He was saying as Ryoma and Tenten drew near. "You heard what all the doctors told you and you can't go injuring your shoulder again! We..."

"Oishi, if he was to injure his shoulder again wouldn't it have been last year or the year before? He's been fine for two years so why be careful now?" Tenten cut him off.

"Ah, Echizen..."

"It's Tenko."

"Tenko-san... he still hasn't been using the Zero Shiki a lot, so his shoulder's okay. But if he starts straining his body again the damage might be permanent this time."

"Right, gotcha. Tezuka, you should check with Inui again then."

"Aa."

The four strode off the court towards the other regulars. They needed lunch, after all.

* * *

"Their language is the same as ours." Tsunade told them as small repairs were being made to the seal. "You won't have to learn it before you leave. Remember, however, to always suppress your chakra levels. And don't ever use jutsu; you won't be able to explain it to the civilians everywhere. Find this Chiyo and stay with her until you find Tenten... Your main objective in this mission is to retrieve her. You must return with or without her by the end of summer, however. If she choses not to return, all records of Tenten will have to be erased. She will only exist in your memories, if you chose not to apply the memory seal that many of us use for Tenchi."

The old and frail seal master stood, stepping clear of the circle that was the seal. "It is done." Neji, Lee, and Hinata's eyes brightened.

"The travelers may step inside the circle." The seal master whispered.

"Huh?" Naruto yelled. Sakura and Kiba grabbed his arms and roughly pushed him in. "Ow... You could have been gentler." He complained, but no one paid attention.

The seal master was uttering a series of chants, touching each of their foreheads with a mixture of ink and chakra.

"One more question if I may, Tsunade-sama?" Sakura spoke up.

"Yes?"

"Why's Sai not here?"

"He's on a short solo mission from Danzo. Besides, I don't want Danzo to get involved in this correspondence thing... I'll make up something to cover you."

"She makes him sound so evil..." Naruto whispered, and Hinata giggled.

The seal master by now was making a stream of seals, still chanting something under his breath. He sat on the North spike of the circle, releasing a steady stream of chakra into the ink. The seal slowly began to glow.

"Be safe." Tsunade said, and then she was hidden from them by the light that enveloped each of them.

They suddenly felt as if they were floating, with nothing holding them up nor pulling them down. Then abruptly they began to drop, down, down, down into a deep chasm. Naruto considered calling on Gamabunta once more.

And then it was over. All of them landed on their bottoms, but they had stopped, and were in an alleyway. Brushing themselves down, they made sure all their scrolls were in the bags they carried and walked towards the light.

What hit them was a sight none of them would have imagined.

Carts without horses, long and thin lightbulb like lights everywhere, lighting the air around them although it wasn't even dark outside. So this was the world Tenten had come from.

It was surely different.

* * *

Once he had made sure the mask on his face was secure, Kakashi reached inside a pocket to pull out the slip of paper Tsunade had given him.

"Well, before we do anything else we need to find this 'Chiyo' person. Let's hope we're not on the other side of this Kanto Region."

Akamaru barked.

"Why don't we ask her for directions?"

A woman with straight black hair and a plain face was walking towards them with a bag full of groceries. Naruto flagged her down.

"What do you need? I really have to get home because I'm expecting guests."

Kakashi stepped in, sensing the woman was annoyed.

"Ah, miss, we are looking for our friend and we have been given this address. Could you possibly direct us to this street at least?" Kakashi held the paper out to her.

The woman looked them over, ignoring Kakashi's outstretched hand. "You aren't from around here, aren't you?"

"Ah, um... no." Naruto said, scratching the back of his head.

The woman glanced at the paper and grinned. "Well, let me guess." She looked up at Kakashi. "You're all looking for Tenko?"

They blinked.

"Tenko?"

"Never mind, never mind. Come on, I'm taking you home."

"Wait!" Sakura shouted out. "We're supposed to go to..."

"I'm Chiyoko, alright? Tenko's sensei. Now follow me." Chiyoko looked over her shoulder at their dumbfounded faces. "I'd comply if you didn't want to get lost in a place that wasn't Konoha."

"Tenko... Tenten?!" Lee's eyes grew wide.

"Oh, right. Tenten. That's what she called herself, yes. Now follow me."

They complied.

* * *

A/N: About the tattoos- I decided that Tenten should have a reason for suddenly switching to long sleeves in _Naruto_, and that since they're on her shoulders, it wouldn't be a problem for her to simply hide them in the _Prince of Tennis _world by wearing t-shirts and blouses.

Please review!

Ja Ne!

GDC


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